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CHAPTER I<br />

INTRODUCTION<br />

This chapter begins by describing the signific<strong>an</strong>ce of the study including the<br />

background to the research study, the educational value of photosynthesis, biology<br />

education in Thail<strong>an</strong>d, <strong>an</strong>d the rationale for developing a new photosynthesis teaching<br />

intervention. It also presents research objectives <strong>an</strong>d questions, <strong>an</strong>ticipated outcomes,<br />

delimitation of study, <strong>an</strong>d operational definitions of terms.<br />

1. Background to the Research Study<br />

Signific<strong>an</strong>ce of the Research Study<br />

A big ch<strong>an</strong>ge in my life brought me to <strong>an</strong> interest in the study of<br />

photosynthesis teaching <strong>an</strong>d learning, especially in regard to Thai culture <strong>an</strong>d society.<br />

In 1999, I became a senior high school biology teacher in a small rural school after<br />

having spent almost all of my education life in the metropolis of B<strong>an</strong>gkok. The rural<br />

students there studied biology as a compulsory subject in the study of science. They<br />

had no pl<strong>an</strong>s for higher education <strong>an</strong>d did not underst<strong>an</strong>d why they should learn<br />

biology. However, I was not concerned with the students’ future pl<strong>an</strong>s, but<br />

concentrated on developing their conceptual underst<strong>an</strong>ding of biological concepts,<br />

aiming towards their taking university entr<strong>an</strong>ce examinations. M<strong>an</strong>y teaching<br />

strategies such as cooperative learning <strong>an</strong>d preparing a science project were used, but<br />

most of the students still did not underst<strong>an</strong>d biology concepts, <strong>an</strong>d often were not<br />

happy during biology classroom study. These situations stuck on my mind <strong>an</strong>d I<br />

puzzled about a possible solution to the problem. Perhaps a better way of teaching<br />

biology would not only focus on development of students’ conceptions, but also<br />

encourage them to appreciate learning biology as it related to their own culture <strong>an</strong>d<br />

society.

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